Creative Writings

Herculean efforts have failed to clean up the Augean stables of political campaign reform and the stench of corruption and the specters of power hungry elected officials and the putrefying vested interests flourish in the cesspool of the legislative halls and executive mansions. The 'Invincibles' of the Praetorian Guard viz., the Supreme Court, constitute the impermeable walls of the fortress of infallibility, beyond assault or appeal. The elected, by auctioning their allegiance to the highest bidders, and the partisan appointed by stonewalling reform and equating corrupting contributions by cupid donors to free speech and term limits as infringement of civil liberties, have turned the voters to apathy, while the media keep providing both poor and wrong information. The sole remedy available is referendums and that is what we need to take recourse to. Drastic ailments in drastic times require drastic remedies.

One solution that comes to mind is to pass three new amendments. A Congress that is reluctant to shoulder its responsibility needs a prod to goad it, to fulfill its obligation by binding it with the constraints of amendments.

28) Voting in elections is not only a right but also a duty and should be made mandatory for all ages from 18 to 65.

29) Every ballot for all elected offices will have the names of all candidates shown eligible for contesting a given office, but also a separate additional 'None of the above'. If the tally of votes for none of the above exceeds the total for each individual for a given office, then all those candidates will be debarred from contesting any elective office for eight years and the election for that particular office will be conducted afresh with new candidates under the same
rules.

30) If and when Congress shall pass a resolution declaring war, all members of the legislative branch and their nuclear family and elected persons of the executive branch and their nuclear family will be drafted within a week and posted in the active war zone as combatants. Those with prior such combat duty experience in the past 15 years will be exempt.

The first will impose on the people the obligation to make the democracy a participatory one, the second will give them a real choice to punish the candidates, while sowing the seeds of insecurity in the campaign contributors by exposing them to the damaging risk of betting on losing hacks and the third will really muzzle the braying warmongers, who have never fought in wars, but nonchalantly treat other's children as canon fodder. It will transform their sanguine insouciance to the freezing chill of concerned fear, sufficient to halt the lethal vapors from the fermentation of their power intoxicated brains, which rove the Stygian corridors of the Executive bastions, under the misnomer of thoughtful deliberations.